🏅 NEWSFLASH: The 2025 Comeback 5000 is a wrap! Results 👇
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2025 RESULTS
CONGRATULATIONS to India Weir who won the Comeback 5000 Elite Women’s Race in a time of 16:03.27. Weir just held off second-placed Lucy Jones after the two of them went head-to-head over the last 200 metres in a thrilling finale. BUCS 5000m champion Poppy Tank completed the podium places. Host club Belgrave Harriers’ Ella Fennelly finished in fourth place with a PB of 16:07.59.
In the Elite Men’s Race, three runners remained in contention at the bell. A devastating injection of pace from Tomer Tarragano with 150 metres to go was enough to see the Liverpool XC champion take the Comeback spoils in a time of 13:32.70. Long-time leader Cameron Allan finished in second place, closely followed by Jacob Cann. Team Makou’s Callum Elson was fourth. 17 of the field finished in under 14 minutes.
The breakout performance of the night came from 16-year-old Michael Clark. The Norwich AC athlete stunned the field in the Men’s B Race winning in a time of 14:08.97. Luke Dunham – who finished in third place in 14:09.95 – was another rising star to catch the eye. Both were inside the qualifying time for the U20 European Championships.
COMEBACK 5000 – 2025 PREVIEW
A spring treat for athletics fans the Comeback 5000 returns to Battersea Park for an evening of 5K action on Friday 23 May. Spectating is free!
It’s official. Comeback 5000 is all set for a 2025 edition under the lights at Battersea Park Millennium Arena. Read on for all you need to know about what promises to be the biggest and best Comeback 5000 so far.
📽️ If you can’t make it in person scroll down to the bottom of the page for a live stream from 6pm!
Twelve and a half laps of the track is the 5K distance that parkrun has made familiar to many. Comeback 5000 is a great opportunity to get up close up and personal with elite athletes as they take on the distance in the capital. In 2024 the elite women’s winner was Georgia Bell, kickstarting a stellar year for the Belgrave Harrier athlete. Bell would go on to win a 1500m silver medal at the European Championships, followed by a memorable 1500m bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
The Comeback 5000 racing starts at 6.15pm with graded open races for club runners. It concludes with women’s and men’s elite races. There are a total of eight races races in all, seeded by PB and getting progressively faster. Serious bragging rights are at stake in the women’s (8.30pm) and men’s (8.55pm) elite races, not to mention potential qualification times for world-class events later in the year.
The meeting is organised by Lloyd Kempson and Steve Gardner and hosted by Belgrave Harriers. Taking place at Battersea Park Millennium Arena it has a track record of featuring some of Great Britain’s top runners.
With music, beers and a festival vibe to accompany the action, the Battersea Park Millennium Arena is the place to be for the 2025 Comeback 5000. It promises to be a memorable evening of top-class athletics!
READ ON FOR THE 2025 ‘ONES TO WATCH’, FULL RACE TIMINGS & A 2024 REVIEW
COMEBACK 5000 ‘ONES TO WATCH’
Elite women @ 8.30pm
In the elite women’s 5000m race, it’s difficult to separate India Weir and Amelia Quirk for race favourite status. At the Armagh International Road Race in February, Weir finished in second place, with Quirk just two second behind her.
Weir, who runs for Thames Valley Harriers, has a 5000m PB of 15:25. Meanwhile Bracknell AC’s Quirk has a PB of 15:27. She is in fine form this year following a dominant display in Leeds at the UK Athletics Cross Challenge in February. Quirk stamped her class to win the senior women’s race, beating England teammates Jess Gibbon and Mia Waldmann.
Beth Kidger, a former Welsh 1500m champion, could be a dark horse as she steps up in distance looking to lower her current 5000m PB of 15:37. Meanwhile Lucy Jones comes into the race with her confidence at an all-time high. The Herne Hill Harrier recently finished first female in the London Marathon mass participation race in a time of 2:30:23. Jones now has her sights set on lowering her 5000m PB which is 15:48.
Elite Men @ 8.55pm
Jack Kavanagh starts as favourite in the elite men’s 5000m race. The Holland Sports AC runner has a PB of 13:34. Joining Kavanagh on the start line is Callum Elson. The silver medallist in the mile at the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Champions is fit and firing after a long-term injury. Elson is looking to lower his PB of 13:37, which is the same as Brett Rushman who will also fancy his chances. BUCS and Liver XC champion Tomer Tarragano is fresh from a 7:47 PB in the 3000m. George Wheeler – PB 13:40 – is another entry likely to challenge for a podium place or better.
Defending champion Rory Leonard is on pacing duties. Leonard put on a PB sub-13:30 show at last year’s Comeback 5000. He then went on to break the British 10k record holder in January 2025, with a time of 27 minutes 38 seconds at Valencia 10km. The Morpeth Harriers runner knocked six seconds off the British men’s 10km record set by Mo Farah in 2010 which Emile Cairess had equalled in 2022.
Leonard is predicted to go off at 13:20 pace. It won’t be for the faint-heated as the runners on the RL train eye Craig Mottram’s stadium record of 13:26.20.
COMEBACK 5000 TICKETS, TIMINGS & TRAVEL
🎟️ Spectating at the Comeback 5000 is free.
🕒 Race timetable:
Race 1 at 6.15 pm (Men’s F) ~ Race 2 at 6.42pm (Men’s E).
Race 3 at 7.05pm (Women’s B) ~ Race 4 at 7.26pm (Men’s D).
Followed by Race 5 at 7.48pm (Men’s C) ~ Race 6 at 8.10pm (Men’s B).
Elite Women’s (Race 7) race starts at 8.30pm.
Elite Men’s (Race 8) race starts at 8.55pm.
Note: Timings subject to confirmation.
🚊🚗 Travel tips: Travel by public transport is recommended. The nearest station to the track is Battersea Park railway station a couple of minutes walk from the park. Trains from London Waterloo and Clapham Junction stop at Battersea Park station. Battersea Power tube station, on the Northern Line, is a 5 minute walk away. The 156 and 344 buses also stop very near to the park. Plan your journey using the Transport for London website. On-street parking is available in roads surrounding the park but note local parking restrictions apply.
Photos: Graham Smith
2024 RECAP – COMEBACK 5000
Last year’s action at Comeback 5000 did not disappoint. 5 open races were followed by an invitational 800m men’s race. BUCS indoor champion Jacob Smith stormed through with 150 metres to go to take the win in a time of 1:49.69.
In the elite women’s 5000m race Kate Axford – the defending Comeback 5000 champion – Jenny Nesbitt and Georgia Bell broke clear from the pack at halfway. With two laps to go, Georgia Bell (pictured above No.240) slowly but surely turned the screw to win in a time of 15:35.24. Kate Axford was second in 15:38.82 (completing a Belgrave Harriers 1-2). Jenny Nesbitt came home in third place in 15:45.69.
The elite men’s 5000m race saw Rory Leonard (main picture above, tracking his teammate and pacemaker for the night Scott Beattie) put in a superb front-running performance. Leonard took the win in a meeting record and personal best time of 13:29.54. Leonard was chased home by James Gorley (13:42.28). Ellis Cross (13:43.95) completed the podium places.
Check out the Graham Smith Photography website here for a full gallery of pictures capturing a memorable night of athletics at Battersea Park.
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